Tape-applying machine



Nov. 3o, 1943. P. H. DIXON 2,335,264

TAPE-APPLYING- MACH INE Filed sept. 15, 1942 Patented Nov. 3G, 1943 TAPE-APPLYING MACHINE Paul H. Dixon, Wenham, Mass., assigner to United Shoe Machinery Corporation,

Flemington,

N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 15, 1942, Serial No. 458,359

(Cl. :l2- 51) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for applying a reinforcing tape to articles, and more especially to an improved device to facilitate positioning the work on the work support of the tape-applying machine illustrated in application Serial No. 452,927, led July 30, 1942, in the name of Harry D. Elliott.

The machine disclosed in the aforementioned application is designed primarily to apply .a length of precoated reinforcing tape to the 'vamp throat of `the quarters of both blucher and bal type shoes and comprises, in general, a work support having an aperture therein over which the vamp may be placed, tape feeding means positioned below the support constructed and arranged to present a length of tape below the aperture in the support, tape severing means and tape applying means also positioned below the support and operable to sever and lift a length of tape through the aperture into engagement with the work. In order to hold the work down during the application of the tape to its underside, there is provided backing means which is located above the work support directly over the aperture at a sufficient distance from the surface of the work support to permit the work to be readily inserted between it and the work support. Such a backing means normally would obstruct the operators view of the work so that it would be difficult to position the work with respect to the aperture to insure the application of the tape centrally of the vamp throat. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide work backing means which will enable the operator to judge by visual comparison of the position of the work with means associated with the backing means its proper position on the work support with respect to the tape ends. To this end, invention resides in backing means, for holding the work while the tape is being caused to adhere thereto by the pressure-applying means, having indicia thereon, the backing means being adjustable transversely of the work support to center the indicia with respect to the ends of the tape. Preferably, the backing means is transparent and has a hair line on its surface. Hence, the operator may constantly observe the position of the work and therefore may readily adjust its position on the work support to insure the application of the tape centrally of a given portion thereof.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation, partly in section, of a portion of the machine with the transparent backing member mounted above the work support;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section, showing the tape-feeding, `tape-severing, and pressure-applying means;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a vamp cn the work support with the backing means superimposed; and

Fig. Ll is an angular view of the bracket which supports the transparent backing means.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the tape-applying machine shown in the `Elliott application comprises, briefiy, a work support it having an aperture l2 therein below which a length of tape t may 4be led by tape-feeding means Tapeshearing means it consisting of a `bar iii and a movable shear plate 26, the latter being carried by a reciprocating member is provided for shearing 'the tape. The tape is held aoent to the point at which it is sheared during the shearing operation by the fixed bar i3 and a cooperating member fl. After the shear plate 2Q is moved into engagement with the har it to shear the tape, the reciprocating member which constitutes pressure-applying means, lifts the severed tape through the aperture i2 into engagement with the lower surface oi' the work w which rests upon the support l@ and thereafter lifts the superimposed pieces into ment with a 4backing means 25.

The backing Ameans 26, as illustrated in Fig. 4, is a plate 28, composed of a transparent plastic or nonshatterable glass, which overlies and is spaced from `the surface of the work support l in a position to contact the display surface of the work when the pressure-applying 4means 22 thrusts the tape against the Work. Since the plate 28 is transparent, the operator may observe the position of the work beneath it and may adjust the work with respect to indicia in the form of a hairline 30 formed on the surface of the plate to a position in which the center of that portion of the work which is to be reinforced lies midway between the ends of the tape which is below the work support and which the operator cannot see. The plate 28, as will appear hereinafter, is adjustable to bring the hairline 30 to a position in which it lies midway between the ends of the severed tape.

The transparent plate 28 is mounted on a forked block 32 and is held in notches 34 formed in the lower edges of a pair of parallel spaced arms 36 thereon, the block 32 being pivotally mounted upon the ends of a spindle 38, the spindle in turn being supported by a bracket 4U which is attached by bolt-and-slot connections i12-44 to an upwardly inclined portion of the work support back of the backing means. A shouldered bolt lit which is threaded through the bracket lli) is passed through the forked block 32, the shouldered portion engaging the top side of the block and providing means for adjusting the arms @t about the spindle 38. This 4adjustment permits the operator to raise or lower the transparent plate 23 with respect to the work support IB for dierent thicknesses of work. A setscrew d8 is provided for locking the bolt 46 in an adjusted position. To prevent damage to the transparent plate 28, the arms 3K5 are yieldably maintained in their adjusted position by a compression spring 50 mounted on the bolt 56, the

lower end of the spring abutting a Washer 52 and the upper end being seated in a recess formed in the block 32. The resistance to yielding may be varied by shortening or lengthening the spring 5t, a nut 56 being provided for this purpose. rIhe transparent plate 28 is removable and the means for clamping it in the notches Sli comprises a screw 58 which passes between the arms 56 and may be manipulated to draw the arms toward each other, thereby to grip the edges of the plate. It is to be observed that in order to maintain the hairline 33 on the transparent plate midway between the lends of the tape for different lengths of tape, means must be provided for adjusting the position of the plate longitudinally of the tape. This is made possible by movement of the bracket 4S] on the support l longitudinally of the tape, the bolt-and-slot connections :i12- t previously referred to provid- -ing for ready adjustment of the bracket.

The position of the work fore and aft on the work support lil is determined by a pair of gages 55, 522 mounted above the support It upon the bracket it in such a manner ythat one or the other may be employed, depending upon whether a bal or a blucher vamp is being operated upon. The details of the construction and operation or^ these gages are fully described in the Elliott application and therefore need not beset forth herein.V

When the machine is in use, the operator determines the length of tape necessary adequately to reinforce the vamp throat, depending upon its size and type, and then adjusts the bracket di) by means of the slot-and-screw connection 2-13 to bring the hairline Sil on the plate 2B substantially halfway between the ends of the severed tape, which position may be determined by bisecting the distance between the severing means and the leading end of the tape. When this has been done, the operator places the vamp on the support i@ beneath the plate 28 and shifts it until the center of its throat lies substantially beneath the hairline 3U so that the center of the vamp throat and the tape are alined. This may readily be done with a minimum loss of time because of the fact that the operator can see through the plate 23.

Having described my invention, what I cla-im as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent o the United States is:

1. In a machine for applying tape to a shoe part, an apertured support arranged to receive the shoe part with the portion to which the tape is Ito be applied overlying the aperture, a transparent pressure plate, means for lifting a piece of tape through the aperture into engagement with the shoe part and thereafter pressing the superposed pieces against the pressure plate, and means for supporting said pressure plate above said aperture, said means comprising a bracket adjustably fixed to the support, a spindle carried by said bracket, and a pair of spaced arms on said spindle the ends of which embrace the edges of said transparent plate.

2. In a machine for applying tape to a shoe part, a support for the shoe part, a pressure plate spaced above said support opposite the upper face oi the shoe part on said support, means for applying a length of tape to the bottom face of the shoe part on said support and for Ithereafter pressing the superposed pieces against the pressure plate, and means for adjusting the pressure plate transversely of the tape applying means to position indicia thereon midway between the ends of the length of tape to be applied whereby Ia portion of the shoe part may be positioned on said support with reference to said indicia to cause the length oi tape to be applied to the bottom face of the portion of the shoe part thus positioned.

3. In a machine for applying tape to a shoe part, a support for the shoe part, a transparent pressure plate spaced above said support and through which the upper face of the shoe part on said support may be observed, said plate having indicia thereon, means for applying a length of tape to the bottom face of the shoe part on said support and for thereafter pressing the superposed pieces against the transparent pressure plate, and means for adjusting the transparent pressure plate transversely of the tape applying means to position indicia thereon midway between the ends of the length of tape to be applied whereby a portion of the shoe part may be positioned on said support with reference to said indicia to cause the length of tape to be applied to the bottom face of the portion of the shoe part thus positioned.

PAUL H. DIXON. 

